Trans* Policies & Experiences in Housing & Residence Life - (Acpa Co-Publication) by Jason C Garvey & Stephanie H Chang & Z Nicolazzo

About the Book

Housing and Residence Life (HRL) plays an important role in the safety, well-being, and sense of belonging for college students, but gender-inclusive policies and practices in HRL are largely under-explored in student affairs and higher education publications. .

Book Synopsis

Co-published with What are the institutional politics associated with fostering trans* inclusive policies? When formalizing a policy, what unanticipated challenges may emerge? How are students, particularly trans* students, influenced by the implementation of gender-inclusive housing practices and policies? Also, what are campus administrators and practitioners learning from their involvement with the development of trans* work on campus? Housing and Residence Life (HRL) plays an important role in the safety, well-being, and sense of belonging for college students, but gender-inclusive policies and practices in HRL are largely under-explored in student affairs and higher education publications. There are five key objectives that guide this book: 1. To promote and challenge student affairs and higher education staff knowledge about trans* students' identities and experiences; 2. To support and celebrate the accomplishments of educators and professionals in their strides to promote trans* inclusive policies and practices;3. To highlight the unique role that housing and residence life plays in creating institutional change and serving trans* student populations;4. To demonstrate the value and use of scholarly personal narratives, particularly for narrating experiences related to implementing trans* inclusive policies in housing and residence life; and5. To create a strong partnership between scholarship and student affairs practice by developing an avenue for practitioner-scholars to publish their experiences related to gender-inclusive policies in housing and residence life and for others to use these stories to improve their practice. Administrators, educators, and student affairs staff will find this book useful at any stage in the process of creating gender- inclusive housing policies on their campuses.

Review Quotes

"From storytelling to practical application, Trans* Policies & Experiences in Housing & Residence Life is a necessary text for residential life professionals across all levels."

Van Bailey, Director, LGBTQ Student Center

University of Miami

"As a resource for practitioners, educators, and students, this book does important work in examining the pervasiveness of binaried gender norms in higher education, and the ways those norms shape institutions and policies. Its aim is not to serve as a guide for enacting trans*-supportive policies but, instead, as a collection of moments when such policies came to be, and a consideration of why those policies mattered to the institutions and all of their students. The chapters' emphases on context and personal reflection reinforce that such policies are ongoing and essential, and that ever-shifting understandings of gender demand equally dynamic and responsive efforts to support trans* students."

Teachers College Record

"Cultural change does not happen suddenly and completely. Instead, within our sphere of influence, we must remove those structural artifacts that support a gender binary and are not gender inclusive. Our students deserve all of our focus and energy to dismantle those artifacts, piece by piece. Making sure every student has a residence hall 'home' to return to at the end of the day is the least we can do. This book gives us the tools needed to accomplish that."

Kathleen G. Kerr, Associate Vice President for Student Life and Executive Director of Residence Life & Housing

University of Delaware

About the Author

Jason C. Garvey is an Assistant Professor of Higher Education and Student Affairs in the Department of Leadership and Developmental Sciences at the University of Vermont and a Research Associate with Campus Pride's Q Research Institute for Higher Education. Dr. Garvey is the recipient of the 2014 Scholar-Activist Dissertation of the Year Award awarded by the Queer Studies Special Interest Group within the American Educational Researcher Association. Dr. Garvey formerly served as Director of Education for CLGBTA and is currently on the Commission for Professional Preparation Directorate, both within ACPA. Stephanie H. Chang is a Ph.D. candidate in the Counseling & Personnel Services and Administration (CSPA) program at the University of Maryland, College Park. She is also the Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Delaware. Prior to this role, Stephanie served as the Director for Education with ACPA's SCLGBTA from 2011-2013. She has also served on the executive board of the National Consortium of Directors of LGBT Resources in Higher Education. Dr. Z Nicolazzo is an associate professor of Trans* Studies in Education in the Center for the Study of Higher Education at the University of Arizona. Z's research explores how discourses of gender pervade and mediate college environments, with particular attention paid to trans people. Additionally, her latest scholarship focuses on how trans people cultivate future possible selves through digital/online platforms, as well as how higher education invests in the logics of transmisogyny. Her first book, Trans* in college: Transgender students' strategies for navigating campus life and the institutional politics of inclusion, was awarded the 2017 American Educational Research Association Division J Publication of the Year Award, and was published by Stylus in 2017. Rex Jackson is the Associate Director for Residence Life at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. He previously s